As the demand for skilled data scientists has grown, university level statistics and data science courses have become more rigorous in training students to understand and utilize the tools that their future careers will likely require. However, the mechanisms to assess students' use of these tools while they are learning to use them are not well…

This article provides a description and discussion of an exploratory research study that examined the effects of using geospatial technology (GST) on high school students' spatial skills and spatial-relations content knowledge. It presents results that support the use of GST to teach spatially dependent content. It also provides indication of an…

Spatial visualization is an essential prerequisite for understanding geological features at all scales, such as the atomic structures of minerals, the geometry of a complex fault system, or the architecture of sedimentary deposits. Undergraduate geoscience majors bring a range of spatial skill levels to upper-level courses. Fortunately, spatial…

Three-dimensional thinking skills are extremely useful for geoscientists, and at the undergraduate level, these skills are often emphasized in structural geology courses. Google Earth is a powerful tool for visualizing the three-dimensional nature of data collected on the surface of Earth. The results of a 5 y pre- and posttest study of the…

Spatial reasoning has become a demanded skill for students pursuing a science emphasis to compete with the dynamic growth of our professional society. The ability to reason spatially includes explorations in memory recollection and problem solving capabilities as well as critical thinking and reasoning skills. With these advancements, educational…

This study describes the implementation and effects of a 32-week teacher-led spatial reasoning intervention in K-2 classrooms. The intervention targeted spatial visualization skills as an integrated feature of regular mathematics instruction. Compared to an active control group, children in the spatial intervention demonstrated gains in spatial…

The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in pre-service Science teachers' astronomy achievement, attitudes towards astronomy and skills for spatial thinking in terms of their years of study. Another purpose of the study was to find out whether there was correlation between pre-service teachers' astronomy achievement, attitudes towards…

It is widely recognized that experience with cognitive tests can influence estimates of cognitive change. Prior research has estimated experience effects at the level of groups by comparing the performance of a group of participants tested for the second time with the performance of a different group of participants at the same age tested for the…

Spatial thinking skills are critical to success in many subdisciplines of the geosciences. We tested students' spatial skills in geoscience courses at three institutions (a public research university, a comprehensive university, and a liberal arts college, all in the midwest) over a two-year period. We administered standard psychometric tests of…

This study aims to investigate the acceptance of ICT teachers pertaining to the use of Scratch as an Algorithm Visualization (AV) software in terms of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. An embedded mixed method research design was used in the study, in which qualitative data were embedded in quantitative ones and used to explain the…

The study of chemistry requires the understanding and use of spatial relationships, which can be challenging for many students. Prior research has shown that there is a need to develop students' spatial reasoning skills. To that end, this study implemented guided activities designed to strengthen students' spatial skills, with the aim of improving…

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of jigsaw cooperative learning and computer animation techniques on academic achievements of first year university students attending classes in which the unit of chemical bonding is taught within the general chemistry course and these students' learning of the particulate nature of matter of this…

This study aimed to determine the impact of strategic thinking and visual representation approaches (VStops) on the achievement, conceptual knowledge, metacognitive awareness, awareness of problem-solving strategies, and student attitudes toward mathematical word problem solving among primary school students. The experimental group (N = 96)…

Creating effective computer-based learning exercises requires an understanding of optimal user interface designs for improving higher order cognitive skills. Using an online volcanic crisis simulation previously shown to improve decision making skill, we find that a user interface using a graphical presentation of the volcano monitoring data…

This study examined (a) the effects of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) on student use of critical thinking skills (CTS) in written responses to district reading assessments, (b) if practiced oral responses affected the ability to respond critically using written language, (c) whether there was a relationship between the development of the CTS of…